Fifty-eight years ago someone called Robert Schuman (at that time French Foreign Minister) called on France, Germany and other countries to combine their coal and steel production under a single European institution. Schuman had presented his proposal as he had foreseen the creation of an organised Europe in order to maintain a peaceful relation between all the countries in the world's second-smallest continent in terms of area.
Following the Schuman Declaration, the European Economic Community (EEC) of six nations was established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 leading to what we now know as the European Union of 27 nations.
Schuman's declaration is considered to be the first ever step to the creation of the European Union. Today's slogan of the EU is United In Diversity as the Europeans are amalgamated in working together for harmony, peace and prosperity. I consider these three elements as crucial for the success that a united Europe already achieved and can still attain in the future.
Europe's goal should be to build a union that respects freedom and the identity of all the people who invent it. As Europeans we can control its destiny by uniting its people as we continue to develop an important, positive and indispensable role for our Europe in today's world. Together we can make it happen!
To reach this remarkable achievement we must appreciate that for a connected and united Europe, having many different cultures, traditions and languages is an asset.
Tomorrow we shall celebrate Europe Day and the themes chosen for this year are Climate Change and the European Year for Intercultural Dialogue, two interesting and vital topics for a progressive Europe.
Coincidentally, I am the only Maltese member of the European Parliament forming part of the temporarily committee for climate change, hence I can clearly comprehend the challenges a modern Europe is facing. We should give the matter the maximum possible attention and prominence and make the entire world aware of all the repercussions global warming may have on our environment in the future.
I already had several occasions on which to call for a national campaign so that we cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 and increase the share of green energy in the energy mix by the same date. For this to happen we have to give a helping hand to save our atmosphere.
Climate change is the biggest environmental challenge today's world is facing as the rising global temperatures will continue to bring changes in weather patterns. Our country is considered to be one of the most crowded spaces in the world and highly vulnerable to climate change. Therefore, we should contribute more to fight this problem.
Europe is also celebrating the Year of Intercultural Dialogue as it recognises that the great cultural diversity represents a unique advantage through which Europe can evidently grow in strength and ability.
We should look at intercultural dialogue as an opportunity to encourage all those living in Europe to explore the benefits of our rich cultural heritage and opportunities, learning more from different cultural traditions.
Last week I made it a point to visit the girls' Junior Lyceum at the Maria Regina School in Blata l-Bajda. Together with other students from the Maltese Islamic school Miriam Albatool of Paola, the girls attending both secondary schools combined their respective cultures to practise intercultural dialogue.
The students made a well-prepared presentation on this topic as I continued to reaffirm that intercultural dialogue has an increasingly big role to play in Europe given the increasing number of languages, religions, ethnic and cultural backgrounds of the members of the European Union.
One may look at Turkey's candidature to join the European Union in the coming years as a clear example that Europe is open to accept other European countries within its structure, even if they may have a different culture from the other member states. Still, a country like Turkey should struggle to safeguard its democracy and human rights before it joins the EU.
As a member of the delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, I'm following Turkey's entry very closely and I repeat once again that no exceptions can be made if human rights are not respected.
One may tend to conclude that the aims of the European Union seem to be very different from what Schuman may have projected but they are not. Peace is still the main objective as solidarity should find its expression through economic and social development.
david.casa@europarl.europa.eu, www.davidcasa.eu
Mr Casa is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.